North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced Thursday that Jackson Corrugated LLC will locate a manufacturing operation in Morganton, create 42 jobs and invest millions within the next five years. The company will locate in a portion of the American Roller Bearing building on Chain Drive. Information from Cooper’s office and Burke Development Inc. said the company plans to invest between $11.5 million and $14 million in the Morganton location. Jackson Corrugated will probably start hiring for its Morganton facility around the first of the year but representatives could be at a job fair at Collett Street Recreation Center that will be sponsored by Western Piedmont Community College on Sept. 20, said Alan Wood, president and CEO of Burke Development Inc. Jackson Corrugated is expected to start operations at the Morganton facility in the second quarter of 2019. The new facility will produce more than 1 billion square feet per year of corrugated sheets for sale to corrugated box makers, according to a release from Cooper’s office. “ Jackson Paper is already a strong member of the community in western North Carolina with its Sylva paper mill and headquarters,” Cooper said in the release. “This expansion into Burke County is evidence of the company’s commitment to our state and western North Carolina’s ability to deliver the talented workers, infrastructure and climate manufacturers need to succeed.” Jackson Corrugated LLC is a subsidiary of Jackson Paper Company, which has been based in Sylva since its inception in 1995. In 2016, Jackson Paper established a subsidiary company in Dalton, Georgia, (Sustainable Corrugated LLC) which processed rolled paper from Sylva to corrugated cardboard products. Demand for the company’s corrugated materials soon outgrew the 51-employee facility in Dalton. This led to the establishment of Jackson Corrugated LLC and the search for a facility in North Carolina to grow its existing product lines. The Morganton location, like Georgia, will be a sheet-feeder plant, processing rolled paper from Sylva into small cardboard products. “This is a great project and we are excited to announce it,” said Jeff Brittain, chair of the Burke County commissioners. “We definitely want to welcome Jackson Corrugated to Burke County and Morganton.” Morganton Mayor Ronnie Thompson said, “Jackson Corrugated LLC looked at other locations in Georgia and South Carolina. We are very excited they chose to move their operation to our community. We look forward to having them in our community and working with them to make sure they are successful.” The state awarded the company a $100,000 One North Carolina Fund grant that’s given to expanding or relocating businesses based on a company’s performance in creating jobs and investing in the state, according to information from the North Carolina Department of Commerce. In addition, the company was awarded a $276,000 grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation for the purchase of equipment. It also has applied for a $500,000 Building Reuse Grant to renovate and up-fit the building for its needs. The Building Reuse program provides grants to local governments to support economic development that leads to the creation of new, full-time jobs, BDI said in a release about the company. “We are very pleased to add another quality company to our community,” Wood said. “Being able to show growth with the expansion of our existing industries as well as adding new companies to the mix is proof that Burke County has a healthy corporate environment. It is a desirable location for individuals and corporations as they plan for the future.” The North Carolina Department of Commerce, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, The Golden Leaf Foundation, Burke County, the City of Morganton and the Western Piedmont Council of Governments assisted with the project.